Prophets challenged to 'real miracle' contest

A GWERU-based apostolic sect leader has branded emerging prophets "n'angas" and challenged them for a contest where they would focus on miracles that change people's lives for the better, like making the lame walk.

Gnatsio Sandas, popularly known as Madzibaba Gnatsio, called Chronicle to voice his concern over the rise of what he claimed were fly-by-night prophets.

He said Zimbabweans should question the kind of miracles that prophets were obsessed with.

"I have seen a lot of articles in the Chronicle about these fly-by-night prophets and the type of miracles they purport to be performing. I want to tell you, these people will be judged for deceiving the masses. How can someone perform miracle money or prophesy airtime and electricity recharge digits?" questioned Madzibaba Gnatsio in reference to recent miracles which were performed by a Bulawayo-based prophet, Dennis Hungwe.

Madzibaba Gnatsio, who himself claimed to have performed miracles like making the  deaf and dumb speak and helping people in rural communities who would have lost their cattle to locate them, said  prophets  should work on performing miracles that made a difference in people's lives.

"I don't think these people you have been branding prophets in the Chronicle are prophets. These are n'angas who are performing petty miracles before they rush to the media in their desperate bid to find fame. How can serious men of God prophesy digits to recharge $1 airtime or predict a soccer match and brag to be a prophet? These are attention seekers who should desist from deceiving people," he said.

Madzibaba Gnatsio, who claimed to have performed a number of miracles, challenged other prophets to meet for a contest where they would pick up mad people in the streets and pray for them to gain sanity.

"I want to challenge those who claim to be prophets for a contest. We want to perform miracles that change people's lives. We should go out on the streets in search of insane people or vagrants so that we pray for that person and change his or her life. Those are real miracles we should be focusing on. That is what Jesus did, real life miracles like stopping abnormal flow (monthly periods) on a woman," he said.

Zimbabwe has been hit by a new crop of prophets who have been coming up with a number of prophesies that include miracle money, miracle babies as well as predicting scorelines in soccer matches.

Recently, a Bulawayo-based prophet, Dennis Hungwe claimed to have performed a miracle whereby his congregants got their phones topped with airtime.

Hungwe of Tabernacle of Faith Church also claimed to have performed a miracle by paying off his congregants' electricity bills.